A Heart Of Gold
by MagicByMerlin
Summary: Arthur is turned mysteriously into a golden statue and Merlin must find away to save him. But is it already too late?
1. Chapter One

"Merlin. Merlin! Wake up!" Gaius said and jabbed Merlin in the side.

"Go away." Merlin grumbled irritably, turning over and swatting the hand away like a fly.

"Your late! It's the tournament today remember?!" Gaius said, persisting with the poking.

"Ten more minutes…" Merlin muffled into his pillow.

"I don't think he's going to wait that long!"

"Who?"

"Arthur! You should have gotten him ready five minutes ago!"

"What?! Why didn't you say?! He's gonna kill me!" Merlin leapt up and sprinted to the door, throwing his bed sheets all over Gaius in his hurry.

"Merlin!" Gaius called after Merlin as he swooped out of the door.

"What?" Merlin stuck his head round the door of the physician's chambers.

"Your still in your pyjamas."

"Oh…yeah…" Merlin said, looking down at himself, slightly abashed.

Five minutes later Merlin was hopping down the corridor, still pulling a boot on. He came to the prince's door and burst in, immediately regretting it because Arthur would probably have something to say about his knocking policy. Fortunately the said prince was too angry and too late for the jousting tournament to give Merlin a lecture.

"Congratulations Merlin! You are now the latest person to have ever walked the earth!" Arthur said, clapping sarcastically.

Merlin mumbled something incoherent and grabbed a bit of armour that was sitting on the table. As he began strapping it to Arthur's arm there came another knock at the door.

"Yes?" Arthur said and turned to the door, the armour on his arm coming off and clattering to the floor. Sighing, Merlin picked up the armour and once again began fixing it to Arthur's arm.

Someone opened the door and a knight poked his head through, an urgent look on his face.

"His majesty is growing impatient. He wishes you to hurry or the tournament will start without you sire." He knight said.

"Tell my father I will be there shortly." Arthur said. The knight nodded and closed the door.

"Get a move on Merlin! If I'm late I'll hold you personally responsible!" He snapped.

Merlin knew this probably meant a spell in the stocks or worse and hurriedly did up the last few buckles. He didn't know why Arthur wouldn't do it himself because he could. If Merlin managed without a servant why couldn't he? He thrust the helmet into Arthur's hand as the prince grabbed his sword and strolled out the door, Merlin following.

The arena was swathed in its usual glory, the Pendragon crest flying in the wind, hundreds of other flags swamping the air and the stadium having its usual occupants. Uther stood and clapped with the crowd as Arthur rounded the corner. Morgana and Gwen also raised to their feet, cheering Arthur on. You could almost smell the excitement and anticipation in the air.

Two horses were led to the arena, one white (Arthur's) and the other (brown) belonging to the opposing knight who wore a green tunic with three entwined triangles imprinted on the front. The two warriors mounted their separate horses and were each handed a long thin lance by their servants.

Merlin shifted the heavy lance onto his shoulder and held it up to Arthur who first put his helmet on and then took the weapon.

"Good luck." Merlin said.

"Thanks."

Merlin retreated to the edge of the arena to watch as the two men waited for the order to begin that would come from Uther. Finally the king stood and raised a hand for silence.

"Good people of Camelot I welcome you all here on this fine day to the annual jousting tournament!" His voice boomed out over the crowd as they cheered.

"My son, among many other brave knights, shall fight courageously over the next week for your entertainment. The scores shall be counted and the final shall be held by the end of the week. The winner shall receive one hundred gold pieces and be given a title worthy of their courage. The rules to the game are as follows; three turns are had and the one who has unbalanced his opponent the most out of that number wins the round."

The speech went on in this fashion, Uther explaining the rules and such like, but Merlin wasn't really listening. He had never been one for speeches. His eyes wondered over to where Morgana and Gwen were sat, on the right of Uther.

Gwen was smiling sweetly as usual but Morgana looked slightly tousled. A few hairs were out of place and she defiantly had rings round here eyes. Merlin made a mental note to ask her if she was all right after the tournament, which was about to begin as Uther had just given the word.

"Prince Arthur verses Knight Belmot. Let the tournament begin!"

Arthur and opposing knight shifted their lances and kicked their horses in the sides to propel them forward. The horses raced down the arena, sand flying up behind them as their hooves rocketed over the ground. Arthur's lance connected with the shoulder of the other knight and he went flying awkwardly off the horse. The crowd cheered loudly as Knight Belmot remounted his horse and the two warriors both returned to their original stations to start again.

The next two turns ended in an unsurprising victory for Arthur and a disgruntled Knight Belmot was knocked down a few peg on the scoreboard which was very much like the one used when Knight Valiant had been in Camelot.

Over the next few hours Arthur had four victories and only lost one round. Merlin roared with the crowd as the prince shoved the last knight of the day off his horse. Arthur jumped off his mount and Merlin went up to lead the stallion away to the stables.

"They all think they've got a chance but in truth they're all useless!" Arthur commented on the knights he had battled that day as he pulled off a glove with his teeth.

"Well one of them beat you! They can't be that bad!" Merlin pointed out.

"I let him win." Arthur grunted, mildly embarrassed.

"Whatever you say." Merlin grinned.

"You know your coming to the feast this evening don't you?"

"Eh?"

"_The_ feast. There's gonna be one every evening after the tournament."

"I'm not wearing that hat!" Merlin announced quickly, remembering the preposterous head gear Arthur had given him when Lord Bayard of Mercia had come for a banquet to declare peace.

Arthur laughed.

"But it suits you so well!"

"With friends like you who needs enemies!"

"Just be there…or else."

"Or else what?"

"Or else…I'll be using _you_ instead of a lance tomorrow."

"Ouch."

"Exactly! See you later." Arthur sauntered away, still pulling a reluctant glove off.

Merlin tied the horse to a stall, gave it a rub down and made sure it had enough food and water before setting off back to Gaius's chambers as he had promised the physician, the day before, he would help him with getting some supplies.

He was wondering down one of the many streets that led to the castle thinking of nothing in particular when he quite literally bumped into Gwen. She had been carrying a good deal of washing and it flew into the air as they collided.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Let me get that." Merlin apologized and began picking up the assortment of clothes of the dusty floor, silently cursing his clumsiness.

"That's all right Merlin. Thank you." Gwen replied, also stooping down to scoop up the washing.

It turned out that many hands do make light work and they soon had all the clothes in their arms.

"So, which way are they headed?" Merlin asked, nodding at the bundle in his hands.

"The lady Morgana's chambers."

"I'll help you carry them. You never know when you might bump into another klutz like me!"

"Thanks Merlin." Gwen smiled and the pair began walking in the direction of the castle.

Merlin remembered the mental note he had made earlier to ask Morgana if she was ok. She had looked rather upset about something when he had seen her earlier. He decided to ask Gwen, as Morgana wasn't present.

"I saw Morgana looked a bit…ruffled during the tournament today. Has she been sleeping badly again?"

"Is it really that obvious?" Gwen lowed her head slightly and looked at the floor.

"Well…" Merlin paused.

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, yes she had another nightmare last night. If anything it was worse than the others." Gwen shuddered, thinking about her friend's hysteria the previous night.

Merlin knew that when the kings ward had dreams they weren't just fantasies but instead previews of the future. It had happened many times before and he had known at the time of the last one that it was not to be the end of the prophecies.

Morgana's nightmares usually foretold of some evil entering Camelot or of a crime or generally anything bad. That probably meant that he was going to have to save the day…again. Merlin pulled a face, annoyed that he would probably never have a normal life. But that was true of any warlock though none were quite like him. He often wished that he didn't have magic and that he could live a normal life that didn't involve saving the life of a prince countless times a day but other times he wouldn't have his life any other way. He suddenly realized that he was being rude by not answering and Gwen was giving him a funny look so he quickly emerged from his thoughts and replied.

"Worse than the others? Why? What did she see?"

"She wouldn't tell me but she did say that she was going to see Gaius about it." Gwen said, wondering why Morgana had not shared the dream with her as she usually did.

"That's wise. I'm sure Gaius will be able to help her."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well, I promised Gaius I'd help him today so I'll leave you to get on with your duties." Merlin said and handed the pile of washing to Gwen; the heap becoming so big that Gwen's face was covered.

"Thank you." Gwen muffled and Merlin made for the physician's chamber waving goodbye, too late realizing that she couldn't see him for the washing.

Gaius was waiting, impatiently tapping his foot, just out side his office.

"Seems you like being late!" The physician raised an eyebrow.

"Patience is a virtue, that's what you told me." Merlin grinned.

"And may I remind you of your comeback? Come on. We need apples." Gaius said also smiling and beginning to walk away.

"Apples? What for?" Merlin said following Gaius down the passageway.

"We need some for supper."

"So I'm helping you with your groceries?"

"Yep."

"Whoopee, the greatest warlock to have ever lived is doing his groceries." Merlin said sarcastically.

"Shh! You can't go blurting that out round here!" Gaius hissed angrily as a passing guard eyed them suspiciously.

"Oh yeah! They might think I'm gonna set a horde of apples on the king and/or destroy Camelot."

"Ha, ha. You're a comic genius…among other things." Gaius chuckled.

"Gaius?"

Merlin and Gaius jumped as Morgana suddenly appeared in front of them.

"Morgana." Gaius bowed his head. "What can I do for you?"

"I had another dream last night." Was the short and serious reply.

"Oh. Well the apples can wait. Come back to my quarters and tell me everything." Gaius said, beckoning them back the way they had come.


	2. Chapter Two

"Tell me what you saw." Gaius said gently, ushering Morgana to sit on one of the chairs in his office.

"Well…it was very different from the others…" Morgana began, sitting down.

"Go on. We're listening." Gaius said also sitting down and clasping his hands together.

"I…well…there was fire." Morgana said, looking into the distance.

"Fire?" Merlin said leaning on a table, his forehead crumpling.

"That's all there was. Just fire. Everywhere. It was burning everything." Morgana had a glazed expression on her face as she brought back the memory of her dream.

Merlin and Gaius exchanged glances.

"It's just a dream. There is no fire." Gaius said tenderly.

"No. No, you don't understand. I know it's going to happen!" Morgana said, snapping out of her glassy eyed look.

"You need rest. I'll get you a sleeping draught."

"They never help. And don't say your going to get me a stronger one. If they get any stronger I might never wake up!" She said bitterly.

"Oh, come now. They do help! Take this one, its slightly different." Gaius bustled away and began to rummage through a number of jars on one of the tables.

"There was nothing there but fire?" Merlin inquired. He knew that if Morgana had dreamt of fire then chances were that fire there would be.

"Yes."

"Do you know where?"

"No. There was too much smoke. I couldn't see but…" Morgana trailed off wondering whether it was important or not.

"What is it?"

"There was a noise."

"What kind of noise?" Gaius said returning from the table, a phial of potion in his hand.

"I…I don't know, just a noise. Then the fire got so hot I woke up." Morgana was describing the dream as though it had been an event and not a trick of the mind in the night.

"What did it sound like?" Merlin asked.

"I couldn't hear. The flames were so loud."

"Don't dwell on these dreams Morgana. It won't do you any good to worry about them." Gaius said firmly, helping the slightly shaky woman to the door and giving her the phial.

"Thank you Gaius." Morgana said half-heartedly and left.

"Well. What do you think to that?" Gaius suddenly spun round and confronted Merlin.

"Why are you asking me?" The young warlock asked incredulously.

"Fire. She said fire. Any ideas what that's all about?"

"Umm…no. Why would I?"

"Just thought you might. You are a warlock after all."

"That doesn't mean I can read minds…yet."

"I know that! But you once said that you powers tell you things. Remember? With the Avanc." Gaius raised an eyebrow.

"Well…yes…" Merlin hesitated, as it was not true. He had got information on how to kill the Avanc from the dragon.

"So…" Gaius made circular motions in the air with his hands.

"I'm not getting anything right now." Merlin answered truthfully.

"Hmm…never mind then."

"Never mind? You know that she's a seer just as much as I do!"

"Even seers can have dreams that are not previews of the future."

"So you think this one might not come true?"

"It is possible. Though I think precautions should be made…" Gaius said, tilting his head in thought.

"What kind of precautions." Merlin asked.

"If Morgana dreamt of fire then it is quite possible that there is going to be a one. I think that I should ask the king to have water brought into the castle, just in case."

"He's not going to do that for no reason and we can't tell him that his ward is a seer."

"I know…"

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Like you said to Morgana, don't worry."

"Yes…well anyway we still need apples so if you would do the honours…" Gaius said and handed Merlin a basket.

"How many do you want?" Merlin sighed submissively.

"Five."

"Ok. I'll be right back." Merlin said and left to go to the market.

Some time later (the stall owner had demanded more for the apples than they were worth) Merlin returned to Gaius's chambers to give him the fruit only to find that he had gone to the feast that had already started. Many of the other residents of the castle could also be found there so Merlin made his way down to the banquet hall.

Decorations of all kinds were draped on the walls as they were on the women who flitted though the crowd, their jewels glinting in the orangey glow from the many brackets posted on the walls. The Pendragon symbol was printed everywhere, including on some the servant who stood resolutely near the corners of the hall, dressed in the uniform that the servants of Camelot wore.

A feast, nothing short of divine, was being placed on the two long tables that spanned the length of the hall and the shorter one that belonged to the more important guests. A hog roast, beef, chicken, fruit and other delicious foods began wafting their various smells towards Merlin, making his mouth water but he knew that he couldn't eat until Uther and Arthur had at least made an appearance.

The night was largely uneventful and the only bit of importance was that there was a small food fight between Arthur and Morgana, which soon spread among the other guests and became a very large one. After it had ended no one could recall what had started the skirmish and everyone went of to his or her beds ether laughing hysterically or picking bits of food out of their hair.


	3. Chapter Three

"Will you get up Merlin! Arthur's not going to appreciate you being late twice in a row!" Gaius said, once again prodding the sleeping Merlin none to gently in the side the next morning.

"Ok! Ok! I'm up!" Merlin said sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed, rubbing his face sleepily.

Gaius left to make breakfast and Merlin threw on some clothes. He wasn't as late as the day before so he took his time and a few minutes later he was on his way to the princes chambers, a heap of armour cradled in his arms.

Shifting the armour into one arm he knocked on Arthur's door and waited for a reply. None came so he knocked again. When there was still no answer he opened the door and stuck his head in, expecting Arthur to still be asleep.

Well that's just down right weird, Merlin thought seeing that Arthur's bed had obviously not been slept in as it wasn't a mess as you would expect. Merlin opened the door and entered the room backwards, having trouble with the armour.

"Arthur?" Merlin turned around and saw a figure by the window. There was no reply.

"Err…Arthur?" Merlin said a little louder.

The figure, silhouetted by the sun shining through the window, didn't move. Merlin dumped the armour on the table and went up to his friend who still stood motionless. Momentarily blinded by the sun Merlin went around Arthur to face him, his hand shielding his eyes by the light that shone brightly through the window. Out of the way of the sun Merlin took down his arm and stared at his friend in horror.

He was made of gold.

It quite literally looked as though he had been frozen in metal where he stood, rooted to the spot and a mixture of terror, amazement and confusion plastered on his golden features. Merlin swallowed, his eyes wide, and waved a hand up and down in front of the prince's face.

This might have seemed strange that someone was acting as though the statue was alive but the golden figure was far too realistic to be anything but Arthur. Each and every hair was separate and not lumpy like it would be on a real statue and if you looked closely you could even see tiny little veins in the eyes.

Merlin just stood there gawping for some time before regaining his wits. He knocked the statue on the head with his knuckle and was met by a metallic echo. That didn't really prove anything though. Arthur's head probably did that before he was made of gold. Merlin shook those particular thoughts out of his head. Now was not the time to be childish. Suddenly going into magic defence mode (for magic it clearly was) he leapt over to Arthur's chest of draws. He opened the many little draws until he found the keys to the door. He ran out of the door, locking it behind him, not planning on anyone finding that the prince of Camelot had turned into a golden statue. He ran at high speed down the corridor back to Gaius's chambers. If any one could help it was the physician.

He burst into Gaius's office out of breath. Not because of the running but because he was scared that maybe this was the end of Arthur for it was quite likely the prince was already dead because of the fact he was now made of solid gold.

"Merlin? What is it?" Gaius said, concerned at the frightened look on the young mans face.

"You are not going to belive this!" Merlin shook his head wildly, hardly believing it himself.

"What?" Gaius said, his eyebrows knitting into a frown.

"I…I can't explain it! Just come and see!" Merlin grabbed the confused Gaius and proceeded to drag him out of the door.

"He's solid gold!" Gaius exclaimed, examining Arthur with an extremely confused and worried look on his face.

"I can see that! What are we going to do!" Merlin cried.

Gaius didn't answer.

"Is he alive? What am I going to do? Have I failed? What are we going to tell the king? Is he really gold? How did it happen?" Merlin asked at top speed, pacing up and down the room and nibbling at his nails.

"Merlin! Stop babbling!" Gaius said above the relentless flow of questions that fell of Merlin like a waterfall.

"Sorry." Merlin sat down heavily onto a chair.

"Could…couldn't it just be a statue of Arthur and not Arthur himself?" He asked hopefully, trying to convince himself more than anything that Arthur was alive.

"No. It's far too realistic to be a statue. But there is a way to be sure…" Gaius said.

"What?" Merlin said, standing up.

Gaius bent a little and pressed his head sideways onto Arthur's chest.

"What are you doing?" Merlin asked curiously.

"Shh. I'm trying to listen for a heartbeat." Gaius said, holding up a hand for silence. Merlin subsided back into the chair and waited anxiously for a conclusion.

"Well that's interesting. Very interesting indeed." Gaius said unbending and rubbing a finger on his chin.

"What is it?" Merlin asked, standing up again.

"Come here. Listen." Gaius beckoned Merlin over and Merlin pressed his head to Arthur's chest.

After a moment he heard a quiet but steady thud of a heart come from the golden statue.

"Does that mean he's alive?" Merlin asked excitedly.

"A heartbeat usually means that." Gaius said. "It also mean that this is most defiantly the doing of magic."

"Well…yeah obviously."

Gaius threw a withering look at Merlin. Suddenly a clamour of a crowd and clashing lances sounded outside the window. The tournament had begun.

"What are we going to tell the king?" Merlin asked anxiously. He wondered what reaction Uther would have to this.

"The truth."

"Ok. I'll get him." Merlin said running out the door.

"What are you talking about boy? How dare you interrupt the tournament!" Uther shouted angrily at the young man before him.

"Please sire! Arthur has…is…well…I don't know how to put it…"

"Once again, what are you talking about?"

Merlin decided to tell the king straight. There was no way to soften the blow.

"Arthur's turned into a gold statue." Merlin said preparing himself for whatever would come next.

"What?" The king laughed.

"He-" Merlin began but was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder that came from Gaius.

"You majesty. It is true. Will you come?" Gaius said, bowing slightly.

"Gaius? What is this? What's going on?" The king asked standing.

Merlin bristled, angry that the king would listen to a more important man like Gaius than him, a servant.

"I fear it is the work of magic sire. Please will you come."

"Magic?" Uther asked. Obviously this had got his attention.

Merlin was painfully aware of the hundreds of eyes belonging to the crowd staring curiously at the occupants of kings private box.

"Yes." Gaius answered.

"Show me where he is." The king commanded, strolling out of the box.

"I'm coming!" Morgana suddenly stood from where she had been intently listening to the conversation.

The king didn't even seem to notice her statement and continued strolling away. Morgana took it that she could go and dragged Gwen with her as they followed the king, Gaius and Merlin towards the castle.


	4. Chapter Four

Looking around at the people about him Merlin saw Gwen and Morgana both had horrified expressions on their faces and hands clapped to their mouths. Gaius was standing resolutely with an unreadable expression on his face but the king's reaction to the golden statue that was Arthur was by far the most worrying.

Uther looked like his ship had been capsized. Like his perfect little world had turned upside down. Basically like his son had turned into gold. As Merlin watched him his face contorted and morphed from immense confusion to horror to a sort of "what next" look.

"How?" Uther said in a strangled choke.

"We don't know sire." Gaius answered.

The king appeared to be in a logical mood today and pulled himself together.

"Can…can we move him?" He asked.

"I don't know." Gaius reply. "You can try."

Uther took the statue by the shoulders and pulled with all his might but Arthur remained rooted firmly to the spot as if stuck there. It seemed that when he had turned to gold he had been glued to the floor.

"What do we do with him?" The king said, staring at his son and heir.

"Well-" Gaius began.

"No. No. It is clear that a sorcerer did this. I shall have the kingdom searched immediately." Uther began to head for the door.

"Wait sire. A search will not help anything. A sorcerer powerful enough to do this will never be found. We need to keep this matter hidden." Gaius argued quickly.

"What do you mean?"

"If you let the people know what had happened to their prince they will panic. You must keep this a secret."

The king mulled this over and seeing Gaius was right answered. He really was in a logical mood and it's a good job he was considering the given situation.

"Well I would but the people expect him to fight in the tournament. I can't say he's ill. They'd never belive that."

Gaius gazed at the floor in thought.

"I would suggest a knight to pose as Arthur but the less people who know about this the better. It will have to be someone here."

"I'll do it." Uther said, puffing out his chest.

"But then how will you explain your absence?" Gaius reasoned and Uther deflated.

There was momentary pause and you could almost hear cogs grinding in the peoples heads.

"You'll do it." Uther suddenly said, eyeing Merlin.

"WHAT?" Merlin gaped.

"You're the same height…you're skinnier but with chain mail know one will notice…you'll have to wear the helmet at all times of course…" Uther said assessing Merlin's appearance.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! There's no way I can pass for Arthur! I'm useless with a sword!" Merlin desperately tried to reason with the king who suddenly looked insane.

"You'll be using a lance." The king retorted.

Morgana sniggered and Merlin silenced her with a look.

"It will only be until Arthur recovers Merlin." Gaius said.

"NO! Seriously I'll ruin his reputation! I'm not doing it!"

"Please Merlin."

"I'm ordering you to impersonate my son." Uther commanded with an air of satisfaction.

Merlin groaned inwardly. He couldn't disobey a direct order from the king. He dreaded to think what Arthur would do it he could hear them.

"But how is he going to recover? We don't even know who did it!" He said.

Uther adopted a more serious face and glowered at the ceiling in deep thought.

"Gaius, I want you in charge of keeping this from everyone. No one is to breath a word of this. Martin will pose as Arthur in the tournament. Mor-" The king started issuing his orders.

"My name is Merlin." Merlin growled.

"_Merlin_ will pose as my son. Morgana and Gwen you are not to speak of this to anyone except to the people present. Gaius, I want an answer for this…" Uther waved a hand at Arthur, "…by the morning." As the king finished he suddenly lost the strong outlook he had maintained and seemed to shrink.

"You should rest sire. I shall tell the people you were called away on an urgent matter." Gaius said.

"No. No. I'm fine." Uther said straitening up, "Arthur was to fight Knight Lambert in the next round so you'd better get Arthur's armour on Melvin."

"Merlin!" Merlin snarled angrily under his breath.

"Come Morgana." Uther ushered Gwen and Morgana out of the room and left himself, taking one last look at his son.

"THIS IS MAD!" Merlin yelled to Gaius as soon as the door closed.

"I can't do anything Merlin. I'm sorry."

Merlin growled to himself but realized that having to impersonate Arthur was the least of his worries.

"How are we going to change him back? He can't stay a statue the rest of his life!" Merlin asked, gesturing towards the stiff golden figure.

"I'll take care of that. Do you want any help with the armour?"

Merlin wasn't sure how Gaius could take care of it but he could hear the sound of a bored crowd outside the window.

"No. That's ok. I'll do it myself."

"Ok. Make sure your careful out there."

"Yeah…" Merlin said unsurely.

"You'll be fine." Gaius said, clapping the young man on the shoulder.


	5. Chapter Five

Merlin had decided he really didn't enjoy being Arthur. His decision was only strengthened as the fourth knight of the day knocked him of his horse for the third time. The crowd booed and hissed, cross that their "prince" seemed to suddenly have forgotten everything he knew. Merlin picked himself up, rubbing his shoulder where the knight had painfully jabbed him with the surprisingly sharp lance.

He was aware of Uther glaring at him angrily. The king wasn't too pleased that Merlin had obliterated Arthur's reputation and left it in tatters. The skinny dark haired boy had entered the tournament with full gear on so that no one could tell it wasn't Arthur and everything had seemed fine then but then the fighting had started.

He had lost every single round and the crowd were obviously none to happy about it. In actual fact they were looking ready to ether pelt Merlin with fruit or begin a riot (complete with pit forks.) Maybe letting the servant impersonate his son was not such a good idea after all. However it was the end to the day's tournament and he could go and see Gaius about what they were going to do with Arthur so the king rose to his feet.

"Good people of Camelot. Thank you kindly for attending today and I look forward to tomorrows tournament." He said. The crowd lumbered away, muttering under their breaths and throwing dirty and disappointed looks at Merlin who was slumped on the sand probably looking sorry for himself under the helmet.

The young man looked in a bad way. His armour was crushed in several places and the tunic and chain mail ripped. Dust covered him like a blanket and he looked nothing short of dishevelled. However the only thing Uther was concerned about was that his son's reputation was on the line.

Merlin climbed to his feet swaying precariously and hobbled away back to Gaius's chambers, rubbing his sore back, which he had landed on more times than he could count. He couldn't understand how Arthur could do this every day for hours on end. Maybe it was because he knew what he was doing and never fell of his horse…

He found Gaius hidden behind a mountain of books reading up on everything that could possibly help. Uther was also there, pacing anxiously.

"Found anything?" Merlin said, dumping Arthur's armour unceremoniously on a table and peering over Gaius's shoulder at a huge book the physician was currently delved in.

"Not yet. I've looked through almost everything I could think of…" Gaius looked fleetingly up at the king who still paced up and down the room with a stony face.

"And?" Merlin asked.

"And I think its up to you. You know what I mean." Gaius said quietly.

"The spell book?" Merlin asked, also quietly. If the king heard their conversation it would all be over.

"Yes."

"I'm on it." Merlin said and went into his room. He shut the door and pulled the heavy, leather spell book out of the compartment under the floorboards. He began to flick through it, stopping on all the possible pages. There really was nothing that said anything about turning a golden prince back to flesh and blood. Growling crossly at the lack of information Merlin slammed the book shut. And that's when the idea hit him.

No one knew who had turned Arthur into a statue except the prince himself. There had been no witnesses or someone would have mentioned it by now. And whoever had done it would be able to change him back right? But who had done it? Only Arthur knew so maybe, just maybe there was a way to read his memory and find out what exactly had happened. But would magic like that work on a gold statue?

Merlin opened the book again and furiously searched it for anything to do with memory. He came across a page with hundreds of squiggly diagrams and symbols that all pointed to a phrase of words. The phrase might as well have been a tounge twister and it looked almost impossible to do the spell on closer inspection of the diagrams. Also there was a warning at the bottom of the page that surprised Merlin. There had never been a warning on any of the other spells in the entire book.

The warning said: Beware, do not use unless you have confidence. Merlin guessed this was confidence in how strong your magic was. He was sure he was up to it so he studied the spell carefully until he had learnt the words of by heart.

It seemed that once the spell had been cast his conscious mind would somehow join with however he did it on and he would be able to walk around the person's memories and see them almost as if he had experienced them himself. Merlin guessed that if his mind was in someone else's then his body would be unconscious. Once he was in Arthur's memories he would be able to find out who had done it and then he could somehow find them and make them change Arthur back.

Merlin had been studying the book for hours and the king had already left so he made his way into Gaius's office to show him his discovery.

"Gaius, look at this!" Merlin said, slamming the book down on the table in front of the physician.

Gaius scrutinized the page for a moment.

"Merlin, this is a very dangerous spell. Messing with peoples minds is not a good idea." He said soberly.

"I know, but it's the only way."

"Do you think your ready? It looks to me that this spell is for very accomplished sorcerers."

"I can do it. Trust me." Merlin said, locking eyes with Gaius.

"Then we should give it a go." Gaius said. "I don't need to say that we won't be telling anyone about this."

"Why'd you say it then?" Merlin asked in innocent sarcasm.

Gaius rolled his eyes and headed for the door, Merlin in tow.


	6. Chapter Six

Unsurprisingly Arthur was still standing nearby the window, his golden face washed in shadows from the sunset that was flooding the room with its glowing orange rays. Thankfully no one else was there, probably because they didn't want to be. That not meaning that nobody loved Arthur but instead that it was rather scary to see someone you know standing so still and not knowing whether they would be all right or not.

Merlin, however, was undaunted by this because he _knew_ that he could save Arthur.

"Good luck." Gaius said, trying to smile. He knew that this was extremely dangerous and if even the smallest thing went wrong then both Arthur and Merlin could die or worse go mad with the damage to their brains. As he had said, messing with people's minds is not something to be taken lightly.

"Thanks." Merlin said, taking a deep breath.

He held Arthur's head in his hands, his arms outstretched and his eyes closed for concentration. The prince just looked unseeingly into the distance as though looking through Merlin. The look that was on his face was the sort that could make a person cry it was so hard and sad. Before Arthur had been turned to gold he had not had one of the most enjoyable experiences that was for certain.

Merlin paused a moment and shuffled his feet slightly. He suddenly wasn't as sure that he could do it, as he had been earlier. He took another deep breath and began to recite the spell he had learnt.

"Gaelic carrum forstay ferventay ariolosoe." He muttered quietly and squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

Immediately there was a sort of weird feeling swirling around his head like a tornado. It was as if him, his soul, was flying down his arms and moving into Arthur's head through his fingers. As his consciousness left Merlin felt as though he was moving away from his body and was seeing himself, standing and shaking slightly gripping Arthur's head like his life depended on it. And then suddenly Merlin was gone and he was inside Arthur's head.

Gaius watched as Merlin cast the spell and suddenly collapsed to the floor, unconscious. He sat the young warlock up and propped him against a wall, his head lolling around on his shoulders. Gaius knew that the spell had been successful and Merlin's mind was now in Arthur's so there was nothing more he could do other than lock the door and wait.

Merlin knew that Arthur was a bit of an airhead at times but this was ridiculous.

He was on his back on a cloudy floor. There wasn't much around, just soft whiteness and cloud. The clouds drifted by like ghosts. They were different colours. Some were bright white, some were grey and some were extreme black. For some reason Merlin had a strange notion that the darker the cloud the worse the memory and the whiter the happier. He was sure that each cloud was a representation of a memory.

So this was Arthur's memory storage? Bank? Place? Whatever you called it this was where Arthur's memories were.

Suddenly he wondered if Arthur would want him nosing around his private thoughts and experiences. If it had been Merlin he certainly wouldn't have wanted anyone poking around in his mind. But there wasn't any way of telling which cloud held which memory so Merlin decided that, as there was no other way, he would have to play a game of hit an miss and hopefully come across the right memory.

He stood up and walked around the white place for a while; just staring at the drifting clouds as they passed and wondering which one he should take. After some time he saw what looked like a gathering of people in the distance. For some reason some of them looked oddly familiar.

Curiously Merlin began to walk toward them. The figures milled around randomly and didn't seem to take any notice of him. They all looked as though they were daydreaming and just floating around without a care in the world. Things were very peaceful here. As Merlin neared the people he saw that they were each holding a cloud in their arms. There were some people he had never seen before and some he actually knew.

He was half scared to death as he saw Gwen suddenly appear from behind a bunch of knights and even more so when he himself popped out in front of him. Morgana was there and Uther, Gaius, Will, Hunith, Lancelot even Nimueh. Merlin wasn't afraid of these people though. Not that he should be scared of them (not including Nimueh.) He somehow knew that they were all the people Arthur had encountered in his life and they would do him no harm.

Most of them Merlin didn't know. He vaguely recognized a few of them as random servants and knights who lived around the castle.

He wondered if the clouds each of them were holding were the memories Arthur had had with that particular person. The servants and knights had small clouds and the owners of the biggest were Uther, Morgana and himself.

Merlin was extremely tempted to find out what Arthur thought of these people (including himself) but he told himself severely that he wasn't here to do that and Arthur would most likely not want him snooping through his opinions of others.

So Merlin left the strange gathering and went back to the drifting clouds. He had some strange idea that he should jump into one of the clouds to see the memory. He wondered how he knew how stuff worked around the place but decided it was probably magic. It was strange.

He chose a completely random cloud that was a bright white and waited for it to come closer. He waited because it seemed that if he moved then the clouds would float away from him as if they were opposing magnets, also because he didn't really want to move around too much. It was a very weird feeling of sleepiness that seemed to hang in the air like a person telling you gently to go to sleep and forget everything. Merlin refused to listen to the voice though. He had to save Arthur.

Eventually the billow of white passed slowly past him and he leapt into it.

Everything flashed brilliant white for a second but gradually faded into a hazy green. He could see only vague blocks of colour, which were various greens, blues and a soft gold of a warm sun. There was the sound of flowing water in the background and a few birds chattered amongst themselves above his head. Merlin could smell the sweet scent of hundreds of small wild flowers and feel a gentle breeze ruffling his hair. Crickets buzzed their strange songs below in the longish grass that brushed his legs as he walked through the meadow that was revealing itself slowly before his eyes.

He was walking against his will and seemed to be a good deal shorter than before. But now he thought about it he didn't really want to take over whoever was walking for him. He put out a hand and it brushed through the tall grass and he put the other up to shield his eyes from the rays of light that shone brightly, reflected and twinkling from the stream that flowed beside him.

This was truly a wonderful place and Merlin would quite happily have lived there.

"Come on lazy bones! I dared you to climb that tree! Don't tell me you've chickened out!" A voice suddenly said and a girl popped out from behind the tall grass.

She had long black hair, green/brown eyes and a playfully smile across her lips.

Before he knew it Merlin was speaking to this girl. The strange thing was that he didn't speak in his voice.

"Calm down Morgana! I'm just coming!" Merlin said. Except it was Arthur's voice he said it in. It was like but not completely Arthur's voice but instead higher pitched. The prince's voice most defiantly but when he had been younger that was for certain.

This was getting really weird.

"Yeah right! You were dawdling on purpose! I knew you didn't have it in you!" The girl (Morgana, as Arthur had called her) teased and flew off into the grass, her long hair flowing out behind her.

"Whoa! Hang on!" Arthur, or was it Merlin, said and gave chase to Morgana who could be no more than six.

Merlin watched on through Arthur's eyes, a few strands of golden hair obscuring his vision as he ran through the meadow after Morgana who was giggling wildly and nearing a large tree.

"Go on then! Up you go! I did dare you!" Morgana said, hiding behind the trees trunk and chuckling.

"If I remember correctly I was the one who dared you!" Arthur said folding his arms obstinately as he also neared the tree.

"Seems you have a bad memory!" Morgana said.

"Don't care if I do. You're climbing it!"

"No way!"

"Not scared are you? Anyway, I'm a prince so you have to do what I say!"

"Do not!"

"Do. Come on. I'll give you a leg up if I have to!"

Morgana scratched her head comically.

"Ok but then you have to come up to! You're not getting out of this one Arthur Pendragon!"

"Fine whatever!" Arthur said, kneeling on the dusty ground and holding his hands together for Morgana to stand on.

Morgana leapt unceremoniously onto Arthur's hands and preceded to reach for the lowest branch of the oak, her short arm waving franticly in the air while the other one propped her up against the tree.

"Take your time!" Arthur moaned.

"Shut up!" Morgana said, catching hold of the branch and swinging herself up elegantly.

"Come on! You promised!" Morgana said, hanging off the branch with one hand clutching a knobble in the trunk and the other held down to the prince.

"I didn't promise anything!" Arthur replied, ignoring Morgana's offer for help and instead making his own way up the side of the oak.

Morgana snorted, annoyed, and suddenly looked up at something in the distance that had caught her eye.

"Oh great." She said.

"What?" Arthur said and hauled himself up onto the branch beside her.

"Its your father. He's coming!"

Arthur growled crossly.

"I'll race you to the top! He won't see us there!" He said already clambering ungracefully up the tree.

"Oi! Talk about unfair!" Morgana giggled and followed him up quickly, ignoring the shouts that were coming from Uther and a few escorting guards.

Merlin had it sussed now. He was seeing one of Arthur's childhood memories through the prince's very own eyes. This wasn't the memory he wanted to see though. How to get back? Everything was so real. It wasn't like a hazy shred of a dream like he had expected but was instead very real. There was no "door" or "magic portal" back to where he had come from. He decided to just wait and maybe this memory would end and he would go back to the cloudy place.

Arthur had reached the top of the tree by now and was swaying precariously on the thin branches that lived at the top. The view was amazing.

Camelot's turrets weren't too far away and this turned out to be a field nearby the castle. There was a long winding river to the right and a buttercup-infested meadow to the left. Willow trees hung their swaying branches into the river and they flowed gently with the currant. The leaves on the trees betrayed the time of year, which looked as if they were browning slightly. It must be nearly Autumn. Also, to top it all off there was an angry king at the foot of the tree, practically shaking a fist at the two run away children.

"He doesn't look too happy." Morgana observed, joining Arthur in the uppermost branches of the tree.

"Probably worried we're gonna fall. You know what parents are like!" Arthur laughed.

"Yeah…" Morgana said quietly, remembering her parents who had died not that long ago.

"Oh…sorry." Arthur was quick to apologize.

"That's ok. Do you think we should go down?" Morgana said, quickly changing the subject to Uther and his guards who were earnestly trying to coax the two children down like they were cats who had got stuck at the top of the tree.

"Go if you want. I'm staying." Arthur said distractedly, harvesting a few acorns from a branch and turning the bottom of his shirt up into a makeshift holder for them.

"GET DOWN HERE NOW!" A voice called angrily from below and Morgana looked down to see a guard trying his best to climb the tree with his bulky armour on.

"They're coming!" Morgana chuckled and hid behind Arthur as best she could on the dangerously thin branches.

"Whoa! Watch it!" Arthur yelped as his brood of acorns slid out of his shirt and hit the guard several times on the head.

Morgana giggled at the guard's misfortune.

"Milady, Milord…the king has instructed me to return you to the ground." The knight said through gritted teeth; clearly he hated his job and heights.

"You'll have to catch us first!" Arthur said cheekily and ran (if you can run up trees) away, up to the furthest reaches oak.

"Ahh! No! Put me down!" Morgana suddenly screeched as the guard, obviously fed to his teeth with the two rascals, grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder to take her back down to the ground.

"ARTHUR!" Morgana yelled furiously and drummed her fists on the guard's back angrily.

"Oi! Put her down!" Arthur demanded and swung down to the guard, trying to release the struggling Morgana.

"Sorry Milord…" The guard said in a voice that betrayed that he was anything but and grabbed poor Arthur and easily slung him over his other shoulder.

"I'm a prince! You can't do this to me!" Arthur said, trying to wriggle his way free.

The guard wobbled perilously on the branch, his arms flying around in circles to try and regain his balance as Arthur struggled.

"Fall and I'll have you executed!" The king shouted, practically seething in anger.

The guard swallowed and locked both Morgana and Arthur in a vice like grip to stop them moving. Somehow he managed to clamber down with his arms full of the two angry children.

All of a sudden the white light was back and Merlin felt himself on the soft, puffy floor of the cloud place. He leapt up, glad that he could move his own limbs again and was back to his original height.

That had been really, really weird but kind of enjoyable. It must have been one of Arthur's more pleasant memories. It had almost been like Merlin had experienced it instead of Arthur. It was all very strange but not in a bad way.

But the job at hand was not reliving Arthur's childhood. It was to find out who had turned him into a golden statue.

Merlin realized he had been sort of stupid. The white clouds were obviously good memories and the darker ones were unhappy ones. Merlin highly considered being turned to gold as a bad memory so it was clear that the next cloud he went through would have to be a black one.

There were quite a number of black ones though. That was to be expected of anyone. Everyone has bad memories.

He picked one at random. It was pretty blackish and even raining slightly.

Merlin was having cold feet. When he had been in the previous memory he had almost heard Arthur's thoughts and could most defiantly feel the emotions the prince had felt. Whatever this memory was about it clearly wasn't good and now he would have to experience it himself. However as the cloud passed Merlin jumped into like he had with the other.


	7. Chapter Seven

The white light appeared again and faded to reveal a rocky surface before him. He seemed to be in a gloomy cave with very little light to speak of. A shear drop below and a steep climb in front. Suddenly he realized that he was hanging off the side of a cliff. He could only see Arthur's arms that were clad in chain mail and far longer than they had been in the previous memory. This must have been a more recent experience.

Suddenly he was shouting.

"Who are you!" Arthur's voice yelled in its normal pitch which confirmed this was when Arthur was the age he was currently.

Merlin wondered whom he was shouting at.

Arthur's arms shifted a bit on the rock that he was desperately hanging on for dear life.

Suddenly a blue light burst out from somewhere. Merlin was sure it was behind him. A strange orb of swirling blue light was flying up behind him.

"Come on then! Finnish me off!" Arthur was shouting again.

The sphere continued to float up and around Arthur, washing him in light.

Arthur shifted his arms again and he heaved himself onto the ledge. He grabbed his sword and backed against the wall, eyeing the strange light.

The orb floated slowly up, wanting him to follow it for some reason but Arthur wasn't heeding to its help because he had seen a small cluster of yellow flowers above and to his left.

He sheathed his sword and began to climb up the wall of the cave, using every hand and foothold he could see in the blue light. He edged slowly across the higher ledge he had reached and swung his arm up to get the flowers that were sitting pretty, just out of reach.

Arthur strained himself to reach the flowers that were so close yet so far and just managed to clasp a finger over one of them. He tucked the little flower into his belt and pulled off his gloves to continue climbing the rest of the wall.

Suddenly there was an array of small red lights below that looked only too much like eyes. There were hundreds of giant spiders scuttling up the rock face, obviously hell bent on doing something horrid to hurt Arthur. Most likely eat him or throw him off the cliff.

Arthur climbed (quiet literally) for his life up the wall as fast as he could in the confounded armour that restricted his movements awfully.

Swinging an arm up for another handhold Arthur stole a glance back behind him at the on coming spiders. They were closing in; probably licking their lips (if they had any) at the prospect of a tasty prince for eats.

Swallowing, Arthur speeded up and eventually came to the top of the rock, the spiders practically biting his heels. He hauled himself hurriedly over the edge and scrambled up. Suddenly a huge spider leapt over the edge and jumped onto his back. Arthur drew out his sword and slashed at the creature behind him who was trying to take a bite out of him. The arachnid fell to the floor hissing in pain at the blow Arthur had struck to it.

Arthur propelled himself forward before the spider's friends could get him and rocketed out of an archway that had moonlight shinning through it. He stumbled out and looked back at the cave to see if any of the creatures had followed him out and when he saw none had he took to his heels and raced away.

Suddenly everything went white and once again Merlin found himself back in the cloud place. He stood up (he always seemed to land on his backside) and rubbed the back of his neck where the spider had ripped at Arthur's skin when it had jumped onto his back. Surprisingly there was no break in the skin. It had felt so real at the time. That must have been when Arthur had gone to the forests of Balor to get the Morteous flower to save Merlin from the poisoned chalice. Merlin had had no idea Arthur had done so much for him (he had after all been unconscious) and he suddenly felt a new respect and gratitude for the prince.

This was all very well but it still wasn't the right memory.

Merlin had a sudden vision of being in this weird place for years, sorting endlessly through Arthur's memories and worse, the prince never being returned to flesh and blood. He couldn't let that happen.

Not only was Arthur the future king but also his friend, best friend even. In fact Merlin would go so far as to say that Arthur was like a brother to him.

This in mind Merlin picked out another cloud. He did not pick this one randomly however. He let his magic do the thinking for him.

He suddenly felt drawn towards one particular cloud that was hiding behind a few others like a frightened child that would take shelter behind its mother's legs. It didn't seem to won't to move though. It just floated slowly in a vague circle.

Merlin edged towards it. The other clouds drifted away from him (like I said before, they were like opposing magnets.) As he slowly came up on it, it went from side to side like a cornered chicken that could not decide whether to go left or right.

Merlin felt rather foolish that he was "stalking" a cloud but most things around this place were pretty weird so he didn't let it bother him.

The cloud suddenly turned ugly (quite literally.) It had been dark before but now it was jet black. It suddenly let loose a lightning bolt and a roar of thunder.

Merlin halted in his tracks. This was really odd (everything that had happened lately was.) It was like the cloud was alive and could think for itself. At the present it was angry.

Never the less Merlin ignored the lightning bolts that were become threateningly bigger and leapt at the cloud.


	8. Chapter Eight

The light left and Merlin found himself just coming into Arthur's room. Technically it was Arthur going into his own room but lets not dwell on that and make it more complicated than it already is.

There was a distinct smell of food coming from somewhere and Merlin realized it was coming from Arthur as he pulled a few bits of chicken from his hair. This must have been just after the food fight at the banquet. If that was true then this must have been around the time it had happened.

A few bits of chicken and what not later Arthur abandoned the idea of trying to clean himself up and began doing a few princely things such as re-polishing his sword (it seemed Merlin hadn't done a good job…surprise, surprise) and setting out his chain mail on the table. After a while Merlin became rather bored and was almost falling asleep when suddenly there was suddenly a strange crackling noise.

Arthur had noticed it to and began to search around for the source of the crackling. It didn't take long. There was a tiny, really tiny flicker of a flame near the window. It was mostly strange as to why it was there because it was not burning anything and also had nothing to use as fuel. It was just a flame.

Arthur crouched down and studied it curiously. It slowly began to grow and soon became a size of a flame that you would expect to come from a candle. It didn't seem any immediate threat so Arthur continued to watch it. There was something very…interesting about it. If asked he wouldn't be able to explain why. It just seemed to attract attention.

Suddenly the flame flashed and grew far, far bigger, big enough to be of a threat. Arthur jumped up and began to stamp on it. The more he stamped, however, the bigger it grew and it was soon just as tall as he was. It still wasn't burning anything yet it was hot, almost unbearably hot. Arthur tried to block out the heat of the flames to his face by throwing up his arms but the heat just went straight through them and continued to fry him. Suddenly a strange noise that couldn't be described as anything but a song burst out. It was a beautiful song, very much like Lady Helen's but it was faster paced and less smooth, almost jumpy. It was the sort of thing that imprinted itself in your mind. Something you would never forget, something that made your heart ache.

The flames writhed in the air for a moment more before suddenly everything went gold. It was like a sheet of gold had been thrown over him and he couldn't properly see anything. He was suddenly going stiff and a horrible white-hot searing pain shot through his body in waves of agony.

Abruptly it stopped and Merlin was back in the cloud place, shaking with pain and fear. He felt like it had actually happened to him. Adrenalin pumping through his veins, sweat beading down his forehead and his breath coming out in ragged gasps he rubbed his head as it thumped. That had been absolutely terrifying, not to mention painful. He sat there for some time trying desperately to calm himself down. It had felt awful, almost like he had been torn into shreds. And then he had actually been able to feel gold creeping up his veins and consuming his body. He was incredibly surprised and relieved that Arthur hadn't died when it had occurred. It was so painful the pain alone could kill you.

After a while, when he had calmed down and felt a little better, he suddenly realized that he still didn't know who had done it. The only thing he had been able to see was fire and smoke.

Still that song was whirling around his head and ringing in his ears. Merlin desperately wished it would go away. It was beautiful yes but so sad and angry. Who had sung it though, that was the question. Merlin really couldn't think, his head was still thumping and his lungs were filled with smoke. He coughed and spluttered for a second as the fresh air of the cloud place stung his burnt throat.

He had to get out of this place and return to the real world. After all what more was there to do here apart from invade Arthur's privacy, which Merlin had a feeling he had already done. He would have hated it if someone had gone into his mind and gone through his thoughts, memories and feelings.

He brought back the image of the page of his magic book, into his head and mentally read it. Finding the words he had to say he stood up, a little shakily, and prepared himself for the journey back to his body.

"Eosoloira yatnevref yatsaf murrac cileag." He said to the air and closed his eyes tight shut.


	9. Chapter Nine

Gaius had been sitting on a chair in Arthur's chambers for over two hours now and thankfully no one had come (or tried) to come in. He had spent most of his time fretting over the unconscious Merlin or pacing worriedly up and down the room but he was currently sat on the chair, wringing his hands.

What would happen if Merlin didn't regain consciousness? What would happen if Arthur never became flesh and blood again? What would he do? What would become of Camelot when the king died and there was no one to take his place except a gold statue?

Suddenly the form of Merlin, slumped against a wall snapped awake and jumped up like he had been electrocuted.

"Merlin!" Gaius yelped and fell of the chair with surprise.

"Are you alright?" Merlin said and dashed over to Gaius who was sprawled on the floor.

"What do you mean am I alright?! Are you? What happened?" Gaius said, swatting Merlin away as he fussed over the old man.

"I…well…I'm fine but it's a long story."

"Did you see who did it? Tell me!"

"I didn't see…" Merlin shuddered and trailed off, remembering the horrible memory.

"Tell me everything that happened!" Gaius said, ignoring the fact that it was hurting the young warlock to talk about it.

"Well first of all I went into this…place, which I think was Arthur's mind and then there were these cloud things that were floating around and I had a feeling they were his memories so I jumped into one and that wasn't the right memory so I tried another." Merlin explained as best he could the weirdness of the place.

"And?" Gaius said making Merlin surprised the physician was acting as though this was an every day occurrence.

"Err…well there was this fire thing that sang and turned Arthur into gold…it hurt so much…" Merlin said and slumped exhaustedly into a chair. The weirdness, magic and pain from the whole ordeal had practically drained him. The magic he had used to enter Arthur's mind had been extremely powerful and it was finally catching up with him. Also the pain and horror of the fire had seemed to stay with him as if it was still present.

"Fire?" Gaius demanded, oblivious to the fact Merlin was half dead.

"Yeah."

"Like in Morgana's dream…" Gaius trailed off and stared at the ceiling and then at Arthur who still stood in the corner pronouncing the phrase "silence is golden" without fault.

"I still don't know who did it though. It was all for nothing." Merlin hung his head dejectedly.

"Perhaps not…"

"What do you mean? We're no nearer than before!" Merlin argued.

"What was the fire like? I need to know everything." Gaius said, pulling a chair up in front of the young warlock.

"Well it started of really small and then it got bigger, it wasn't a normal fire that I'm sure of, and then it started…singing…and everything went golden and it hurt. It really, really hurt."

"What was the song like? Can you remember it?"

"Yeah…I'll never forget it…" Merlin shivered.

"Can you sing it?"

"You want me to sing?" Merlin frowned and stared at Gaius like he had suddenly sprouted another head.

"Yes."

"Err…"

"Merlin, this could be important."

Reluctantly Merlin hummed the tune of the song, refusing to sing. Gaius listened intently and when Merlin had gone on to what was probably the chorus he suddenly jumped up.

"Do you know it?" Merlin asked.

"I know it alright. It's not the sort of thing you forget easily."

"What is it?"

"It is the song of the phoenix."

"Phoenix? I thought they were good creatures?"

"They are, defiantly are."

"Then why would a phoenix turn Arthur into gold?" Merlin asked, his forehead crumpling into a confused frown.

"How much do you know about phoenixes?" Gaius said, sitting down again.

"There can only be one alive at any time, they rule over fire, they're birds…that's about it."

"Good, but you missed a very important fact out."

"What's that?"

"Phoenixes all have a purpose that they must for fill in their life times."

"What?! You mean like a purposes to turn Arthur into a statue?!"

"No! They use magic for good."

"Well evidently not!"

"And that's what's so confusing." Gaius lent back in his chair thoughtfully and put his fingertips together.

"The phoenix must have had a reason!" Merlin said.

"Yes…we need to talk to it."

"How?" Merlin asked, almost laughing, "Where on earth are we gonna find a phoenix? They don't grow on trees!"

"There not on earth." Gaius said quietly, bending his fingers and pressing them together so much his knuckles went white.

"What?"

"You said where on ear-"

"I know what I said! What do you mean not on earth?"

"Phoenixes are birds of fire." Gaius said as though it was obvious to the where abouts of the elusive creature.

"Yes…"

"And where is the best place for a bird who likes fire to live that isn't on earth?"

"Err…" Merlin racked his brains, annoyed that the physician was stringing him along like this, "The sun?"

"Exactly."

"Well then…Arthur isn't ever going to return to his usual state then is he? I mean…come on… the sun!" Merlin said, half angry and half sarcastic.

"There is a way to the sun. Not many have been able to succeed in using it but some who have tried claimed they did."

"You've lost me completely." Merlin said, shaking his head.

"Have you ever heard the phrase "a ladder to the sun"?"

"…Yes…don't tell me there is?!" Merlin reeled.

"Not an actual man made ladder (obviously) but from the stories of the survivors there is a thing very much like it."

Merlin _did not _like the way Gaius had said "survivors" and swallowed because he knew that he was probably going to have to try and be one of them.

"Well…err…how do you get to it?" Merlin asked tentatively, trying desperately to not think about the inevitable out come this was surely going to end up in.

"I don't know." Gaius said.

"What? You know everything about it apart from where it is?"

"I don't know everything about it! No one does. It's shrouded in mystery." Gaius said darkly.

"Oh."

"It looks like I'm going to have to do some more research." Gaius said, standing up heavily.

"Right. What are we going to do with him?" Merlin added, pointing his head in Arthur's direction.

"Nothing. What can we do?" Gaius said and turned the key in the doors lock.


	10. Chapter Ten

Merlin lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling in deep thought, his mind going over and over all the things he had experienced in Arthur's memories. He avoided the thought of the fire memory but still it niggled in the back of his mind, eating away at him like an undying worm. He shoved the thought to the back of his head and instead busied himself with the first memory he had gone though.

It seemed Arthur and Morgana had enjoyed a rather nice childhood, larking around and climbing trees. Merlin guessed they had grown apart as they grew up as they still had the occasional spat.

And then there was the second memory, when Arthur had risked life and limb just to save him. Merlin knew Arthur wouldn't (though perhaps would one day) admit it but he was certain that he considered him a friend and the memory only strengthened that theory. Merlin had a sudden erg to go back to the cloud place and to the gathering of people there where he was sure he could find out of what Arthur truly thought of him without having to guess anymore. He struggled desperately with his curious side and his sensible side, saying things in his head like "Curiosity killed the cat Merlin." And then "But I'm not a cat."

It was almost like a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. Merlin's devil wasn't that evil though and he soon gave up the idea, deciding that it probably wasn't a good idea.

"Merlin! Come see this! I think I've found it!" Gaius suddenly called from his office, jerking Merlin from his wondering thoughts.

"What does it say?" Merlin asked, trotting down to the physician and peering over his shoulder at a large and dusty pile of scrolls that were before the old man.

"Do you know the Old Hills near Greendale?"

"Yes."

"There is a rock there. You remember?"

"Yeah." Merlin said, staring into the distance and remembering the old jagged rock that protruded from the said place.

"What else do you remember about it?"

"One of its sides is glass. No one knows how it happened. The place is famous for it."

"That glass is the way to the sun."

"What? Seriously?" Merlin asked, wondering how such a normal place could hold such a secret.

"Yes. There are a few like it situated around the world in various places. They're few and far between."

"But I've been there hundreds of times! There's nothing special about it."

"Yes, your right. There is nothing magical about it until a spell is cast on it."

"What kind of spell?"

Gaius pushed a few scrolls out of the way and picked out a sheet that looked like all the others, strange, browning and old.

"What do you make of it?" Gaius asked, handing the sheet to Merlin.

Merlin looked at the scroll a moment.

"It doesn't look too hard but it doesn't say what happens afterwards."

"Well maybe you can write it down after you find out."

"Well…I…" Merlin rubbed the back of his neck, slightly nervous.

"What?" Gaius asked kindly.

"I mean…the sun, phoenixes, fire. It all sounds rather dangerous…"

"And since when has that stopped you before?"

Merlin smiled.

"So, time for me to save the day again right?"

"Yep!"


	11. Chapter Eleven

The hills looked like a desert of grassy green sand dunes that flowed like waves across the landscape. They were not particularly large, the biggest being about twenty feet tall. The largest one was in the centre of all the hills and had a large triangular shaped rock poking out of the earth. The rock was jagged and of a brownish grey colour and was quite boring if you looked only at the side that faced away from the mountains in the far distance. If you were to take the time to go around and look at the other side you would see that the whole of that face was made of glass that had a diamond like sheen over it, giving it the vague appearance of quartz except it wasn't so clouded. The rock was pretty big, about the size of a smallish house.

The wet wind whipped at Merlin relentlessly, blowing his coat to one side and then another as it changed direction. It was raining slightly and the ice-cold flecks of water bit into his skin making him wish that a tree had thought to plant its self nearby. There were no trees or any other kind of shelter in the open landscape for miles, which made it unbearably cold but Merlin reflected that he wouldn't be frozen for long. He was after all, going to the sun.

"So…what exactly do I do now?" Merlin asked Gaius who was stood a little way off, holding the reins of their horses.

"Use the spell on the scroll I suppose." Gaius suggested.

Merlin dug into his pocket and found the sheet that he had stuffed there earlier. Holding it in one hand he began to recite the spell to the glassy rock before him.

"Nus eht ot em ekat." He said, throwing his hand out at the rock.

If less than nothing could happen, it did.

"It didn't work." Merlin frowned.

"I can see that. Try again." Gaius said.

Merlin tried the spell again and once again nothing happened.

"Are you sure you're doing it right?" Gaius said, coming over to Merlin and peering closely at the scroll.

"Well I did what it said but it's not exactly detailed!"

"Maybe you have to say it differently."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Try saying it in different volumes."

"I don't think that's going to help."

"Its worth a try. Go on."

Merlin sighed and began to shout the spell at the rock.

"NUS EHT OT EM EKAT!" He yelled.

The rock did nothing so Merlin tried the spell in a whisper. Once again nothing happened.

"Maybe it didn't hear you…" Gaius said thoughtfully.

"It's a rock. It can't hear anything." Merlin sighed.

"Merlin if you don't-"

"I know, I know…" Merlin stopped as an idea suddenly grew slowly into his head.

He stuffed the scroll into Gaius's hand and slowly approached the rock until his nose was only a few centimetres away from its glassy surface. He ran a slender finger down the smooth glass. As he touched it a strange sensation crept slowly up his fingers like the warmth of a fire. Gaius watched on in interest as the young warlock studied the rock.

"Nus eht ot em ekat." Merlin whispered gently to the glass, flattening his hand and pressing his palm onto the cold surface.

Suddenly a ripple erupted from the area his hand was and flowed across the glass like a large stone had been dropped into a lake. Merlin leapt back and watched as the glass continued to ripple and flow like silk. It looked remarkably like water.

"Wow…" He breathed.

"In you go then." Gaius commanded, breaking the atmosphere the diamond like rock had created.

"Eh?"

"That's the way to the sun."

Merlin didn't argue with him. If there was ever really a portal to the sun then this was it. He took a step towards it and then stopped.

"If…if I don't make it back…tell Arthur I'm sorry." He said his voice drenched in emotion.

Gaius wondered how he would tell a golden statue that his friend was sorry but he just nodded in reply; suddenly nervous that maybe Merlin wouldn't make it back. If he didn't Gaius would be loosing a person who was like a son to him and he also knew he would not be the only one to miss the young man if he should not return.

Merlin took a deep breath and looked back at the turrets of Camelot far in the distance for a moment think that maybe this was the last time he would set eyes on them.

Tentatively, he walked slowly into the rippling glass that consumed him as he did so.


	12. Chapter Twelve

He walked slowly through the felid as though in a dream. The blossoming orchids around him shredded a few white petals and flying gently past, brushing over his face. He was barefoot and his feet pressed into the lush green grass below him, relishing the soft silkiness. He had originally thought this to be a field but it was by far better. It was an orchid of puffy blossoming trees that hung over the grassy path he was hovering along. He wondered if this was heaven, it was so perfect and peaceful it hardly could have been anything but, yet he somehow knew it wasn't.

The cherry blossom on the trees were letting loose a pleasant smell of wildness that flowed around him like dancing fairies.

As he walked (he couldn't stop and didn't want to) he noticed a beautiful, yet quiet song that was coming from all around. As he got further into the orchid the song got louder until he could hear the words being sung. They were not English but he still understood what it was saying. It was telling him of peace, happiness and beauty. It was the song of life as it should be, no war or hatred, just joy.

It made Merlin want to run and jump but also lie down and sleep and the same time, and not only that. He wanted to laugh, cry and shout.

It was incredible.

He blinked sleepily as something slowly appeared in front of him. It was a ladder of golden, brown wood that grew up into the sky with nothing to lean against, just standing there. Merlin's eyes followed its path up to the sky and gazed at the sun that shone, warm and bright above the world. Before he knew it he was griping the ladder and beginning to climb it slowly as though he just couldn't be bothered to go any faster.

After only a few minutes he had gone extremely high (which was strange as he was going very slowly) and could see the vast orchid below that seemed to go on forever. He was really high up but he wasn't afraid that he might fall.

Still the song played, tinkling all around him, harps, violins, flutes and that amazing voice.

Suddenly the sun was beginning to shine even more brightly, causing Merlin to just look up sleepily and gaze at the intense brightness that was flowing all around. The golden light encased him and he was flying up in the brightness at an alarming speed but still he just blinked happily as though nothing were happening.

He was too at peace to worry, it was beyond him now.

Suddenly (though nothing was really sudden in this place) he was in a bed with plump pillows and a puffy white quilt. The room was hazy white and had long slender beams of wood on the walls that snaked up like long strands of grass, looking like they had been grown, not cut. The door was open and a gentle breeze blew in, bringing to him a warm smell of trees and flowers.

He sat up and looked slowly around, becoming free of the sleepiness of the orchid. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed his face, feeling like he had been asleep for years.

The song still played through the open door and he decided to find out what it was that sung it. He floated out of the room and found himself on an open balcony what was held up by huge wooden poles. It led to an incredible view of a rocky waterfall and a river with a bridge arched over it. Everything was so beautiful and peaceful around here it made his breath catch in his throat.

The song was getting more and more amazing by the second and he simply had to find the singer even if it meant not drinking in this incredible view. Wildly he began to run up the stairs that he saw to the right of the balcony near the door he had come by.

The place (wherever that was) was beautiful, all very similar to the room he had first woken in but with different furnishings. The décor however remained the same, creamy whites and golden wood. There was no one there, it was empty.

Still the song played, getting increasingly victorious and Merlin found himself becoming frantic in his fruitless search to find the singer. Just as he was about to give up he saw a flicker of something in the corner of his eye. He jumped away to the balcony he had seen it (the place seemed to consist of half rooms and half balconies.)

What he saw there made his eyes water he kept them open so much, not wanting to miss a second of the beauty before him.

There was a bird, unmistakably a phoenix, perched serenely on the balcony rail with a long sweeping tail that was very similar to what a fire that had been frozen mid flicker would look like. Its plumage was orange but as it moved Merlin could see that it was two-tone and shone gold when in the right light. It had long feathers on its head that were peacock like except red and orange like flames. It was quite big to, about half his height, which is big for a bird.

It was the singer of the song, the notes flowing out of its black beak perfectly. It didn't acknowledge the stupefied Merlin until it had finished and he immediately wished it wouldn't stop. He would have been quite content to stay there forever and just listen to it.

But it had stopped and there was nothing he could do to make it start again so Merlin wondered what he should say, if anything. It was a bird. Could it understand him if he did speak? He also wondered how anything so obviously good could do anything so extremely bad such as turning Arthur into gold. Gaius must have been mistaken, he thought.

Man and beast (though you could hardly call that thing a beast) gazed at each other for what seemed like an age, the phoenix's amber eyes boring into Merlin's own rich blue ones. He couldn't look any more and he flicked his gaze away and stared at the floor. The birds voice still rang in his ears and he wished that it would sing again and stop staring at him so intently.

"Why have you come here?" The phoenix suddenly spoke, though not moving its beak.

"I…I…" Merlin spluttered.

The bird just stood there and waited.

"I…how…?"

"How what?" The phoenix asked gently as though asking a young child what the problem was.

"How…how can you have…?" Merlin could not understand how it could have done what it did when it was so good. It must have been this bird though, only one phoenix is alive at a time and that fire he had saw was most defiantly a phoenix.

"You are referring to prince Arthur." The bird said, not asking but stating.

"Yes…and why he's currently made of gold." Merlin managed to regain his wits. Maybe it was the mention of Arthur that did it.

"All phoenixes have a purpose that they must for fill in their life time."

"And yours was to turn Arthur into gold?" Merlin fumed.

"No."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"How do you know it was me? I know who you are, Emrys. Did you use magic?" The phoenix fixed him with its amber stare.

Merlin had been called Emrys before by the druid boy who had been in Camelot all those months ago. He still didn't understand what it was all about.

"Might have done." Was all he said.

"Excellent. I have watched the world for a long time and I know it is no easy thing to do what you did, yet you executed the spell without fault. This is good indeed." It said.

Merlin wondered why it was "good" and "excellent" but he thought maybe the bird was trying to distract him from the purpose he had come here for so he took no notice of it.

"I know it was you. There can only be one phoenix alive at any one time. Tell me why."

"Very well." It said, "As I said all phoenixes have a purpose. Mine was to protect Arthur Pendragon, as is your destiny."

"And turning him into gold is your way of protecting him?!" Merlin was stumped.

"Let me finish young warlock and then maybe you will understand. Phoenixes are magical creatures. Uther Pendragon is against all such things. I cannot protect the son of such a man. I cannot. I would rather die."

"I do it even when Uther is killing sorcerers left, right and centre. I don't let it stop me." Merlin said.

"It is for you to decide what you do and do not do. I on the other hand have chosen this."

"What is this? Turning Arthur into gold? I thought that would be the last thing you would want. When Arthur becomes king then magic will return to Camelot. If he's a golden statue he can't be king!"

"Do you know that for certain? Does he know about your magic? Are you sure you can trust him? He may not return magic to the kingdom." The phoenix asked slyly.

"I…" Merlin began and then stopped. Was he sure that he could trust Arthur? He wondered what the prince would do and say if he did know about his magic.

"Well?" The phoenix broke the silence.

"I don't know." Merlin answered truthfully.

"So how can you say that magic will return when Arthur is king? The dragon told you that no doubt."

"But why did you do it to Arthur? If you had done it to Uther then surly it would have been better for you?" Merlin asked.

"The best way to hurt Uther is to hurt his son. Turning him to gold is worthy of that I think."

"Turn him back." Merlin commanded suddenly.

"And how do you plan on making me?" The bird sung, laughing.

Merlin knew of the things this creature was capable of. He had experienced it once before in Arthur's memory and did not wish to do so ever again.

"Please." Merlin tried a different approach, "Turn him back and you can continue living up here. I will protect Arthur. You don't need to for fill your purpose."

"I cannot let Uther get away with killing all those people. I must do this."

"You mean your only hurting Arthur to get to Uther in the best possible way and for your own ends not for the good of the world? You are a selfish pig." Merlin spat.

The phoenix bristled at what he had called her and Merlin was sure it was beginning to smoke slightly.

"Yes. I am doing this for my own ends. That's none of your concern."

"Everything that concerns Arthur concerns me! I'll ask you one more time, turn him back!"

"No."

"Then you give me no choice." Merlin threw his hand forward and worked a spell to the tip of his tounge, just ready to be unleashed.

The phoenixes eyes blazed like two flames in its head and she stared at him intently.

"Do you really think you can kill me?" It asked.

Merlin suddenly was unsure of whether he could or not. It was so beautiful and serene. Could he really bring himself to even harm such a thing? If he killed it then she would never sing again…

"I shall sing for you if you do not kill me. You want that don't you." The phoenix breathed, locking Merlin with its eyes.

"I…" Merlin lowed his hand slightly. He did want it to sing. He _really_ wanted it to sing. He just wanted to stay in this place forever and listen to it, never to return to earth. He put his hand back down to its side.

"You can stay here. Forget your destiny. Just stay here." The bird said in a hypnotic voice.

Merlin blinked sleepily again like he had done when it had been singing and his tensed shoulders relaxed.

The bird began to sing again, even better than before if that was possible. The sound washed around Merlin making him feel sleepy and happy. It was singing a mixture of English and some other language now.

"May it be an evening star shining down on you. May it be when darkness falls your heart will be true. You are a lonely god, how far you are from home. May it be when shadows fall you will find comfort. May it be you journey on to find love and hope. When the night is overcome you may rise to find your soul." It sung.

Merlin let every word and note wash over him like it was all he needed and he began to sway slightly as though he were becoming dizzy and too sleepy to stand. All thoughts of Arthur and his mission swam out of his head and all he saw was the phoenix, sitting and singing on the rail.

I cannot hope to describe to you just how beautiful that song was so I am not going to attempt it. Just know that it was impossibly perfect. It made Merlin think of hope, victory and most importantly magic.

"A heart of gold and a soul of courage shine forth in the darkness. The shadows are gone and life prevails." The phoenix sang.

The words it sung made Merlin think suddenly of Arthur. A heart of gold he most certainly not own but right now he was made of gold…and he did have a soul of courage that was for sure…

His mission flashed back into his head. He had to stop the song; it was putting him to sleep. He snapped out of the trance he had been in and before he had even thought about the aftermath he was rushing at the golden bird on the rail and throwing them both off the balcony.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

The wind whipped past the two falling figures as they plummeted toward the ground. Everything was a blur of hundreds of different colours. Greens and yellows from the grassy hills that surrounded the waterfall and lake.

The glassy surface of the lagoon was rushing up at an alarming pace and Merlin knew that he would hit it like it was stone if he did not do something. He twisted in the air and plummeted into the water hands first. A huge splash erupted and flew into the air as he went down to the sandy bed at the bottom of the lake, bubbles escaping from his mouth and flying up to the surface. Slightly stunned he floated for a second before regaining control of his shocked limbs and kicking to the surface of the blue lake.

Treading water he looked around for the phoenix, which he had dragged down with him, grasping its wings so it could not fly. A heap of bedraggled orangey red feathers was floating a little way off in the rippling water. Merlin swam quickly over to the bird and flipped it over so that its head was out of the water. Its head lolled limply in his hands and he knew it had been stunned when it had hit the surface of the water.

Holding it with one arm and swimming with the other he pulled it to the side of the lake and laid it on a rock, his wet clothes clinging to him and water dripping off his hair.

He rung out his scarf that somehow had managed to stay around his neck on the decent from the balcony and rubbed the bird with it, trying to get it to breath again. He knew it was going to die; it looked far too frail and weak now to live. He just wanted to wake it up to demand the answer to the question that was throbbing through his mind: How do I save Arthur?

He rubbed its chest and back more vigorously and it suddenly let out a cough of water and a spasm rippled up its suddenly small body. Merlin wasted no time even though he was distraught that the beautiful creature was going to die, he would never hear it sing again.

"Tell me how to save Arthur." He asked as it weakly lifted its head and coughed painfully again.

"Why should I?" It wheezed.

"You are going to die. Please tell me." He said.

The phoenix knew that there was no point continuing with its selfishness. It would help Merlin save Arthur as a last act of kindness. It was in the bird's blood to be good, even if it had been momentarily mislead into the selfishness it had lived.

"Take…" The bird coughed again, "Take one of my…feathers…you will know what to do with…it. You can save...him…" It wheezed.

Merlin looked at the feathers that still shone golden in the fading light even though they were drenched. As he looked they seemed to dry and flicker like a dieing flame, clinging desperately onto the last bit of wood.

"Take…one…" The bird spluttered again, "Quickly."

Merlin gently pulled out one of the feathers that was as long as his forearm and stroked the bird's head as it died. Another spasm racked its frail body and suddenly it was on fire, burning up and floating away into the sky. Merlin stood and gazed up at the blue, cloudless expanse, watching as the burning flame flew out into the distance. He knew that another phoenix would be born from that ball of fire and it would have a different purpose and life. It would not cause any more trouble but instead prevent it.

Letting out the breath he had self-consciously held, he tucked the feather into his belt and wondered how he was to get home.

As he thought this a white light very similar to the one in Arthur's memories grew around him and everything was covered in the whiteness. Suddenly he was walking back through the orchid towards the rock of glass that waited for him, its smooth surface interrupted by the rippling waves that flowed along it.

And then he was back. Back to the Old Hills.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

"What happened? Are you ok?" Gaius leapt to Merlin's side as the young warlock stumbled out of the rock.

"That…was…" Merlin was lost for words.

"What?"

"Incredible…" Merlin said, looking back at the rock that was no longer rippling.

"What was? What happened?" Gaius persisted.

"It sang…"

"The phoenix? You heard it sing?"

"Yeah…"

"What was it like?"

"I…I can't describe it…but that doesn't really matter now. Don't you want to know what's going on?"

"Enlighten me." Gaius said.

"The phoenix's purpose was to protect Arthur but it hates…hated how Uther kills everything magical and so it decided to make Uther feel the pain it felt by getting to him the best way it could think of." Merlin explained, taking his horses reins and beginning to walk down the hill, Gaius following.

"Turning Arthur into gold?"

"Yes."

"And then what?"

"It sung…and I was getting really sleepy but then I remembered why I was there."

"Yes."

"And then I threw us off the balcony to stop it singing."

"Balcony?"

"There was a strange house…thing…place…"

"How did you survive the fall?" Gaius inquired.

"There was a lake."

"A lake? In the sun?"

"I don't know! Anyway it was stunned when it hit the water and it died." Merlin said rather weakly, wishing he had better literature.

"What's going to happen to Arthur now?" Gaius halted in his tracks. Merlin however kept walking.

"It gave me this." He said, taking the feather out of his belt and showing it to Gaius, "And it said I would know what to do with it." He added when Gaius continued looking confused.

"What do you have to do with it then?"

"No idea."

"Right…"

"Come on. I'm sure Arthur doesn't appreciate being made of gold." Merlin said, mounting his horse.

As Gaius and Merlin approached the door that led to Arthur's chambers Morgana and Uther came out, Uther with a stony face and an arm around Morgana who was crying silently into his shoulder. She was to upset to notice them and Uther might as well have ignored them because all he did was nod and continue to walk sadly down the corridor.

"Don't let them back in." Merlin said, going into Arthur's room, obviously not wanting for the king of Camelot and hater of magic to see him perform a spell on his son. Gaius obediently locked the door and followed Merlin to where Arthur stood silently. Merlin took the feather from the belt and it flashed in the sun that shone through the window, bathing the room in light for a second.

"What do you have to do with it?" Gaius asked, frowning with confusion.

"Shh." Merlin said, studying the feather and remembering the song that the owner of it had sung.

"Niaga ruhtra sevas nilrem." He whispered to it. Immediately it burst into flame in his hand, not burning him or the feather. Gaius gasped but Merlin was to intent on looking at the flames to notice.

The feather was now a ball of fire.

Gently he let go of it and it floated in the air for a second before growing in size and brightness. Merlin stumbled back and put up his hand to shield his eyes from the flames.

The fire grew over Arthur until it had covered him completely and not even a golden hair could be seen. As quickly as it had come the fire disappeared to show the prince again. The gold began to fall away from him like sparkling dust, which flew out of the window, never to be seen again.

As soon as it was gone Arthur moved for the first time in days. He blinked and swayed dizzily. Merlin could see he was about to fall and caught him as he collapsed to the floor.

"Sire! Are you alright?" Gaius exclaimed and knelt down beside the prince as Merlin propped him against the wall.

"Someone had better tell me what happened or heads are gonna roll." Arthur groaned and rubbed his face dazedly.

Merlin couldn't contain himself anymore and hugged his friend into a vice like grip.

"I…can't…breath…!" Arthur gasped and Merlin released him grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Anyway…someone was going to tell me what happened." Arthur said, gazing confusedly at the pair before him.

Gaius and Merlin exchanged a quick glance. They couldn't tell him the truth…could they?

"Well…I'll let Merlin tell you." Gaius said.

Arthur turned expectantly to Merlin.

"By all means Merlin, take your time!" he said, politely rude.

Merlin knew what he had to do and that wasn't tell him the truth. He decided to admit part of it though, missing out all the magic of course.

"Well what do you want to know?"

"Everything! For starters you can tell me why there was a really weird fire in my room!"

"I don't know anything about a fire," Merlin lied, "but I do know that you were turned into gold by a phoenix."

"…?"

"But I found it and…it won't be troubling us again."

"And I cured you with…an anti gold potion…" Gaius said weakly.

"A what?" Merlin and Arthur said in unison.

Gaius was saved by the door handle that suddenly began to rattle.

"Why is this door locked? Open it immediately!" The king on the other side commanded.

Gaius went over to open it and Merlin helped Arthur up who was still shaky on his legs from standing stock still for so long. As Gaius opened it the king came in and saw his son, leaning heavily on Merlin's shoulder and no longer made of solid gold.

"Arthur!" The king cried and dashed over to his son and embraced him in a hug that Arthur wasn't quite ready for.

"This is incredible! What happened?" The king demanded, clapping Arthur heartily on the shoulder causing the prince to stagger, still stiff from the ordeal of being made of metal.

Merlin sighed, knowing he was probably in for another explanation but Arthur unknowingly saved him.

"It was Merlin. He's the one you should thank! Gaius to…and his…anti gold potion…" Arthur added, raising an eyebrow at Gaius's feeble lie.

"Physician? Please explain." Uther said.

"Uh…well…" Gaius said and began to tell the king everything that had happened in detail. As they talked Arthur turned to Merlin.

"Did you really save me?" He asked.

"Yeah, I guess so." Merlin let loose a lopsided grin.

"Thank you." Arthur said, the gratitude coming from the bottom of his heart.

Merlin smiled and nodded in response.

"Do you remember anything?" He asked.

"Only that horrible fire. How long was I out?"

"A few days."

"Oh right. Wait a minute!" Arthur suddenly stopped.

"What?" Merlin frowned.

"What did you tell the people? They must have noticed I wasn't at the tournament."

"Ahh…yes…well…"

"Ahh, yes, well what?"

"The king didn't want the people to worry so he kind of…umm…" Merlin rubbed the back of his neck, dreading what was going to come next.

"Yes?" Arthur asked cautiously.

"He ordered me to pretend to be you in the tournament so they wouldn't worry and…err…"

"What?" Arthur asked in a dangerous voice Merlin knew only to well.

"I may have ruined your reputation…"

"Merlin?"

"Yes?" Merlin asked, cringing at the calmly angry tone Arthur had adopted.

"I AM GONNA KILL YOU!" Arthur found his legs again and gave chase to Merlin who had already dived for the door.

He may have been joking but that was no comfort to Merlin.

Well that's gratitude for you.

**The End**


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